“We kept him tied to a chair, naked. We beat him until he fell unconscious, then we would spray him with ice-cold water to wake him back up and then repeat the process. I ripped all of his teeth out. We sliced every part of his body. I didn’t let him die from that, though.” I pause, looking for any form of disgust on her face, but there is none. “I doused his body in fish guts and left him to feed the rats. We went back about a week ago, and he was unrecognizable; barely anything was left besides bones. Mr. Snider's team took the remains to a pig farm upstate somewhere. No one will ever be able to find the remains.”
“Wait? Mr. Snider, as in Vixens? How is he involved in all of this?”
“Oh, yeah, he is married to Jayme’s 2ndcousin. Also part of the Morelli Family. Odette is in the family too, not blood, but still part of it nonetheless.”
“What about Theo’s home? Aren’t the police going to figure it out? They are going to find my DNA all over that house, and theywill know he was the one that took me. Why don’t we go to the cops now about it?”
“We can’t; they would trace his disappearance back to us. But don’t worry, it is being handled.” Jayme cuts in.
“What do you mean “Handled”?” she asks cautiously.
“We had a crew go in and spray some stuff that compromises DNA evidence. They destroyed more of the house. Plus, my team found out Theo was involved in some pretty fucked up shit in different parts of the world, so the story of him being taken as a hostage by some other crime family makes sense. No ransom will ever come, and the world will assume he is dead.” He tells her.
She sits there in silence, processing everything, for almost 20 minutes. We sit with her in case she needs anything, but neither of us speaks. She sighs a lot and cries silently a few times. She probably feels like I do, where she feels this is all just a dream, and she is still trapped there. After a bit, she lays down next to me. I snuggle up and wrap my arm around her. She buries her head into my chest and cries. Her tears are breaking my heart. She stayed so strong through the doctor telling her everything, but between seeing herself and hearing about everything that happened, it is too much. She cries for so long, her sobs falling silent as she falls asleep on my chest.
"Hey, you hungry? I can go get us food." Jayme asks quietly.
"Hmm, honestly, a pizza sounds amazing right now."
"You got it. Pepperoni and bacon? Extra cheese?"
"Sure. Sounds good to me." He goes to leave. "Hey, Jayme?" I stop him.
"Yea?"
"Thanks again. For everything. You have honestly been closer than family during all this. I can never repay the debt I owe you, but I will try my best. Please give me time to get her to move to California. I still want to be your 2nd in command; Idon’t want to risk pushing her too fast." He puts his hand up to stop me.
"Lucian, you are my best friend—the brother I never had. You don’t have a debt to repay, but I would love to have you as my 2nd in command. Take as much time as you need with her. No need to rush. I’ll have a place set up over there for when you guys are ready." He honestly is one of the greatest men I’ve ever known.
"Thanks, man." He heads out to go get our pizza. I hope the doctor will allow her to have pizza. I know it will brighten her spirits.
Jayme comes back about an hour later with pizza, cheesy bread, and pop. Cassie stirs in my arms and sniffs the air.
"Is that... pizza?" Her eyes pop open.
"Yep, and I checked with the doctor. As long as you go slow and don’t eat too much, you can have some." He is grinning ear to ear at how excited she is, and I am, too.
"Thank you, Jayme. I really appreciate this." She is so sweet when she’s being bashful.
I grab a plate and load it up for Cassie before Jayme, and I grab our own. She takes her first bite and lets out the slowest, most orgasmic moan. Jayme and I both stop mid-bite and stare at her. She can feel us looking and opens her eyes.
"What?! It’s fucking good. I’ve hardly eaten in like almost a month. I’d kill someone over this pizza." She laughs. I knew this would help.
"So..." She clears her throat. "Can we talk about it?"
I look at Jayme; neither of us knows which part she is talking about. The night at the club? The last time she was in the hospital when we kissed. Her kidnapping? She almost dying? Or us taking care of Theo?
"Which part, sweetheart?" Jayme asks.
"That right there. How the fuck did I not recognize your voices and the way you draw out the word sweetheart." So, she wants to talk about the night.
"Ahhh, so you want to talk about that now, do you? Okay, Lucian, I think you better start.”
69. Lucian
"Ok, so I kind of have to go back before the club." I start.
"What? The club was on Saturday, and I picked you up on Tuesday. What could have happened in those four days?" She looks confused and a bit angry.
